


Getting along might not be so bad

by Mado



Category: The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Domestic, Gen, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 07:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12127884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mado/pseuds/Mado
Summary: A short ficlet for an Anonymous Defender's prompt: Team Fic: "My kink is team bonding. I just really wanna see more fics of the whole team whether deliberate or not being in each others lives. Matt, Jessica, Luke and Danny all working together and hanging out and bonding you know. Seeing the four of them meeting and then growing closer was my favorite part of the Defenders.Give me all the team bonding fics"





	Getting along might not be so bad

“Aren't you rich? Couldn't we just order fancy Italian food? Or just pizza?” Jessica's half a bottle of wine in before she decides to intrude in on the 'kitchen squad' and their first time attempt to make a meal that's anything more complicated than hamburger helper. 

She refuses to cook, it's not her thing, even if she's a hundred percent sure she's more capable in a kitchen than some hipster from a hidden city and a blind man that can't even distinguish the difference between the salt and pepper grinders. (He can, she knows, he's weird like that.)

Nothing smells burned yet, but Danny's made a serious of disconcerting noises that make her think that something's gone wrong somewhere, despite Luke's low indiscernible but reassuring murmurs towards the blond.

It's kinda funny to see, actually, the three of them crammed into Matt's kitchen, each in aprons, which Danny insisted on-- and while they protested at the time, there's enough sauce and flour splattered across them that they're all grateful in retrospect.

“Those are the words of a Hangry woman.” Matt lifts a hand to his mouth, directing the words towards Luke as if Jessica couldn't hear him. Luke just snorts and continues the slow, tedious process of hand-rolling meatballs, plopping them one by one into the simmering sauce. 

Danny, however, responds to the protest with a frown. “Come on Jess, it's totally worth the wait. When's the last time you had a home-cooked meal anyway?” 

She hates that she doesn't bristle when the kid calls her 'Jess', and that he's right, it's been a long time since she's she's sat down to a meal that didn't come from the nearest take-out place or came wrapped in plastic at a local convenience store.

“Who cares?” It holds a lot less venom than she means for, and it leaves her exhaling a sigh. Ugh, they're wearing her down. She can only eye Murdock warily as he comes around the counter to offer her a spoonful of (did they really have to make it from scratch?) tomato sauce, his hand is steady but he lets her lean in to taste it if she wants. She does, begrudgingly and – fuck them all, it's actually good.

“Well?” Matt's waiting, and of course the bastard already knows it's amazing, he probably knew how to add each ingredient to perfection from his sense of smell like that damn rat from that cartoon that she only watched that one time because there was nothing else on. 

“It's actually pretty good.” she concedes, leaning back to lick her lips. She'll give them this one little victory, her scowl only half-hearted at Danny's stupid sun-shine bright smile of victory. Matt's smile is more of an 'I told you so' smirk, so she just ignores him, pouring herself another glass of wine because she's feeling classy enough not to drink out of the bottle tonight. 

Luke doesn't react beyond plopping another meatball into the sauce, but she can feel the sense of smugness radiating off of him regardless. Bastard. 

“I'm going to see if there's any movies on.” She announces in an effort to escape, still a little surprised that Matt even owns a TV, but that might be Danny's doing. It looks pretty fresh out of the box and bigger than a blind man who can't even seen the screen probably needs. Sure, there's the news and shit, but there's already the internet for that. 

The couch sinks under her weight and she's a little surprised with how comfortable it is, granted it doesn't really match the rest of Matt's décor, and again she's left wondering why a blind man even has décor in the first place. Like, paintings? Really? Either he entertains a lot of guests or has friends that fancy themselves would-be decorators. 

They probably shouldn't quit their day jobs. 

“Okay what's the vote?” It's easier to open Netflix than flip through channels, so she does, and not just because she's a little curious to see Murdock's movie history. The TV's set up for the visually impaired, so every time she flips through it cheerfully announces the title of the show. Somehow she's not surprised that the last few are boring documentaries. But everyone needs something to put them to sleep she guesses. There's a few action movies and kung-fu flicks before that and she's only the tiniest bit jealous that they've been watching garbage movies with out her. Not that she'd accept the invite, but STILL, they should have asked. 

No one really answers past a few 'you pick' or 'whatever' and an 'I don't care.” So she flips through to find that movie about the stupid fighting Panda, if only to rib on Danny a little, and oh Jesus they made THREE of them?

The intro has barely started before Luke's deep laughter rolls from the kitchen, and Matt's follows briefly, followed but a curious “What?” from Danny before he peers out of the kitchen to investigate. 

His barked out laugh nearly makes her smile, but she stifles it down in favor of taking another swig from her wine glass. 

He joins her after a few more minutes in the kitchen, sitting too close and she thinks to protest, but he's warm and smells like fresh oregano and sweet basil so she allows it, only huffing out a sound when Matt follows to crowd in on her other side while Luke lingers in the kitchen to man the simmering sauce and spaghetti. The notion is surprisingly warm and domestic, leaving her to fight the warm and fuzzy feeling swelling in her chest. 

Thankfully Danny ruins it by stating, unnecessarily, that there were no panda's in K'un-Lun, though he thankfully has no further critique on the movie, instead he seems fully absorbed after a few minutes.

Matt, of course, is just listening, his head tilted back against the back rest, and she has to wonder if he's focused in on the movie or on the people surrounding him, either way there's a tranquil kind of expression that she's never quite seen before. 

The movie's half over by the time Luke announces that dinner's ready, and Jess gets up to wander in, followed by Matt, Danny's still engrossed in the movie and she's pretty sure she's never seen him neglect food before, but from the look on his face, something must be hitting pretty close to home-- and she tries to roll the plot over in her head; an outsider doing the unexpected. Accomplishing greatness despite adversity. She gets it-- she just didn't expect a kid's movie to motivate her sudden epiphany about Danny Rand. 

“Huh.” She looks over and Matt is smiling, as if he was waiting for it, even while he loads up his plate, like he can read Jessica like a damn book and she curses under her breath.

“Hey come on, food's ready.” She sets her own plate down to cross over, leaning over the couch to fold her arms around Danny's shoulders so she can rest her chin atop of his head, his hair surprisingly soft, tickling under her chin. And she can blame the affectionate gesture on being tipsy, and not because he probably needs it. Either way he doesn't comment, just tips his head slightly and smiles. 

She can feel Luke's approving gaze boring into her and hates it, but loves it at the same time. She shouldn't care what he thinks.

“Got it.” He pauses the movie so they can all reconvene at the kitchen table, and Luke makes sure their plates are piled high; spaghetti and meatballs, cheesy garlic bread, and salad (because, again, Danny insisted) It's simple and comforting and maybe the best Jessica has ever had, and the quiet that blankets the room as they eat seem to agree, not because they have nothing to talk about-- but because they're too busy stuffing their mouths like they'd never see a meal again.

“This was nice, guys.” Danny's the first to speak up, picking the crust off of his bread first, leaving the soft center to sop up some of the sauce on his plate, he's already onto his second helping and Jessica has to wonder where he puts it all, the kid's still practically a beanpole.

“It was.” Luke agrees from across the table, voice just as comforting as the meal laid out before them, it seems to go hand in hand, and Jess relaxes a little more, allowing herself to enjoy the moment for once.

“We should do it more often.” Matt adds, and maybe he's the last person to suggest it, well, second to last, but she was thinking it, if wistfully so. She'll resist it, sure, make excuses to avoid it, maybe even neglect to show up altogether, but when she's here, with them, it really is nice. 

And she really could use a little more 'nice' in her life.


End file.
